Coast Guard assists 2 separate disabled vessels in Lake Superior

CLEVELAND — The Coast Guard assisted two separate disabled vessels in Lake Superior late Sunday night, towing the vessels to local marinas.

At 8:53 p.m., a rescue boat crew, aboard a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium from Coast Guard Station Bayfield, Wis., responded to an urgent marine information broadcast issued by the harbor master at Saxon Harbor, which is located on Lake Superior’s Oronto Bay in Iron County, Wis. The Cassie-K a 38-foot tribal fishing tug had contacted the harbor master from near the Apostle Islands via VHF-FM radio channel 68 reporting a loss of power and propulsion.

The captain of the Cassie-K lost communications with the harbor master prior to giving an exact location of his vessel.

After locating the Cassie-K, the rescue boat crew connected a side tow and towed the vessel to the Apostle Island Marina. The rescue efforts were completed just after 1 a.m. A post Coast Guard post search-and-rescue boarding found three violations – expired flares; inoperable fire extinguishers and no garbage placard.

At 9 p.m., a Coast Guard boat crew, aboard a RB-M from Coast Guard Station Duluth, Minn., came across a disabled 16-foot pleasure craft, with two people aboard, drifting toward the rocks near the entry to Duluth Harbor.

The rescue boat crew immediately threw a line to the disabled vessel to keep it from grounding and then towed the vessel to Rice’s Point boat launch where the boat was safely secured at 9:47 p.m.

“The crews from both Station Duluth and Station Bayfield responded quickly and professionally to these two incidents and were able to assist these mariners and prevent loss of life and property,” said Cmdr. Richard Kavanaugh, chief of response at Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie. “Im very proud of the diligence demonstrated by the Coast Guard men and women across Sector Sault Ste Marie.”